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IRVING — Welcome to a change in Cowboys culture. They have on campus a fledgling big-play wide receiver who is not prone to being up all night (Michael Irvin), petulant (Terrell Owens), or a magnet for attention for all the wrong reasons (Dez Bryant).

Welcome to the sedate, by the book, workmanlike world of rookie Terrance Williams, a homegrown talent (W.T. White) tiptoeing in the footsteps of Walt Garrison (Lewisville), Harvey Martin (South Oak Cliff) and Everson Walls (Richardson Berkner).

“He’s a very quiet, serious-minded guy,” Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said the other day when the topic turned to Williams.

“We think that’s actually a really good trait. He’s really locked into meetings, and if you ask him questions, he’s on top of it. It’s important to him. He’s a good notes taker. And I think that has had a lot to do with the success that he’s had.”

There’s more gush from Garrett. But you get the idea.

Williams already has set a Cowboys rookie record by catching touchdown passes in four consecutive games. Through 10 games, he has 29 receptions for 498 yards and five touchdowns. Even with veteran wide receiver Miles Austin scheduled to return Sunday against the New York Giants from a hamstring injury that has sidelined him for five games, Garrett promised Williams would remain a vital cog in the offense.

“We’ll have different personnel groups in the ballgame, and both of those guys will be a big part of the plan,” Garrett said.

Here’s the headline about Williams. He has made himself “a big part” of offenses by attacking football the same way since his days at North Dallas’ Marsh Middle School.

Talk to coach David Bates, who worked with him at Marsh. Or coach Evans at W.T. White. Or coach Briles at Baylor. It’s a one-voice hallelujah chorus.

Most reluctant of all to talk about Terrance Williams is Terrance Williams.

“The simple fact is I have never been one of the fastest people or one of the strongest people, so I always just stuck to my game plan no matter,” Williams said, standing in front of his Valley Ranch locker last week.

“The more I got used to the system in junior high and throughout high school, I got comfortable with the people I was with. I wanted to show them I was a player that was willing to do anything to get better.”

Shy, but dedicated

Williams has gotten “better” at every stop on the 10-mile journey west from W.T. White to Valley Ranch.

By the time the shy, introverted young man who arrived at W.T. White with a serious stutter played his final high school game in 2007, he was a star wide receiver, safety, punt and kick returner.

A basketball star as well, he was ranked only 78th on The Dallas Morning News’ list of area football prospects. Rivals, the national recruiting service, rated the 6-2, 170-pound senior “two stars,” which cannot be confused with “blue chip.”

That was good enough, however, to earn Williams a scholarship to Baylor when few other Division I schools were clamoring for his presence.

Williams wasn’t recruited by Art Briles’ Baylor, the offensive machine that entered play Saturday undefeated this season and ranked fourth in the nation. His scholarship offer came from the previous regime headed by Guy Morriss in the midst of yet another losing season.

When the time came to meet Briles, who replaced Morriss after the 2007 season, Williams was nervous about making a trip to Waco.

That didn’t surprise Gary Haskett, an assistant basketball coach at W.T. White who remains close to Williams. He recalled that on the day Baylor first came to meet Williams, coaches, teachers and friends had to “hunt the boy down he was so shy.”

“He went home,” Haskett said, laughing as he recounted the story. For the meeting with Briles, Haskett made sure an escort accompanied Williams.

Joel Evans, then the W.T. White coach and now an assistant at Garland High, said the knock on Williams was his speed.

“But I can tell you this: He took screen passes the first game of his junior year against Lancaster and scored touchdowns of 80 and 60 yards against cats who can run,” Evans said. “Colleges put Terrance on a stopwatch instead of believing their eyes.”

Evans said Williams approached football as if it was “a job.” He never wavered, even as W.T. White went 1-9 his junior season, and he finished his high school career 9-22.

“He went to work every day,” the high school coach said.

“He never balked at anything. He always wanted the team to succeed and be as good a player as he could be.”

Zach Talley, Williams’ quarterback at White who went on to the Ivy League’s Cornell University, said his wide receiver “often pointed out blitzes and checked to hot reads.”

“If you threw the ball Terrance’s way, he was always going to make you look good,” Talley said.

Shunning the spotlight

At Baylor, Williams sat out his freshman season, participating only on the practice squad. For his dedication to service, he earned the offensive award for work on the scout team.

As a redshirt freshman in 2009, Williams was primarily used as a kick and punt returner. He was named the Bears’ co-MVP on special teams.

He started 10 games at wide receiver in 2010 and caught 43 passes for 484 yards. In 2011, he caught 59 passes for 957 yards. In his final season, he caught 97 passes for 1,832 yards.

Along the way, Williams lowered his time in the 40-yard dash from 4.6 to 4.4, a quantum leap in the stopwatch-obsessed NFL.

Kendal Briles, the Baylor wide receivers coach, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram earlier this year that Williams is “just a technician as far as receivers go. He’s also an unbelievable practice player and better on game day.”

At Baylor, Williams also worked to overcome a stutter that was more pronounced in public than in private conversations. Williams was never big on media interviews, recalled Heath Nielsen, associate athletic director for communications. But by the time Williams became a finalist for last year’s Biletnikoff Award that goes to college football’s outstanding receiver, he handled the necessary media campaign with grace if not with comfort.

“Once I gain trust, I am pretty cool with you for a pretty long time,” Williams said, wrapping up the interview at his locker.

Seconds later, he was approached by a Cowboys in-house video crew asking if he might like to offer Thanksgiving greetings to fans. He declined.

“I’m not good at that kind of stuff,” Williams said, shooing away reporter and camera.

He was good when he returned to watch W.T. White this season for the neighborhood rivalry game against Jesuit. He signed autographs and chatted with all comers.

“But I didn’t like all the attention during the game,” Williams said. “I came to watch the players.”

Highly motivated

Where does Williams’ almost single-minded drive and work ethic come from? Earlier this season, he tracked down Hall of Famer Irvin, asking for a detailed critique of his play and suggestions on how he might improve.

“I hate the feeling when I gain people’s trust, and something goes wrong and I let people down,” Williams said. “That’s why the biggest thing to this day that still keeps me motivated is not to let people down.”

Gay Foster, mother of Williams’ best friend, Tyler, has known the Cowboys wide receiver since he was in elementary school. He often stayed with the Fosters.

Foster believes Williams inherited his drive from his mother, Angela Brown, whose family often moved from apartment to apartment.

“She made a lot of sacrifices for him and his brothers,” said Foster, who happens to work for the Cowboys at AT&T Stadium. “She worked two or three jobs to make sure her boys were provided for. She never gave up.”

Brown, through Foster, declined comment.

“Can there be any more meaningful motivation than wanting to help repay your mother?” Foster asked.

Follow Barry Horn on Twitter at @bhorn55

Stacking up

Cowboys wide receiver Terrance Williams established a club rookie record earlier this season with touchdown receptions in four consecutive games. He has two scoring catches of 60 yards or more, the first Cowboy to have at least two in a season since Terrell Owens in 2008. Here’s where Williams ranks among Cowboys rookies: